alone in the light
by TheLostSpade
Summary: "oi, you got a wanted poster" i look down at the table to see NO FACE AUDREY written in bold letters...[sigh] "...my name is Audroka not Audrey...and i haven't done anything bad...yet".
1. my rusted social life

hi guys (●´∀｀●)

this is my first fanfic so i hope it turns out nice!

disclaimer: i don't own one piece nor the characters eichiiro oda created.

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"Don't you want to be successful like your sister? At this rate you'll be working at a thrift store with nothing to go by!"

The wind ruffles my brown hair, making me wish I could take my hair down. My parents are always comparing me to my sister Adelaide and how perfect she is, it makes me jealous. I wish I was the first born, maybe then I could tell _her_ what to do. I sigh and wipe the thought away as my mother comments on how my hair is too short. "She's not even listening to me!" my mother barks at my father who sits on his armchair, newspaper in hand and pipe in mouth. I look over to him, silently begging for him to save me, and he flinches looking between my screeching mother and myself. "I think….that Audroka needs some space, she's a growing girl who is probably sorting out some problems" as my father drones on, I silently slip away taking my sketchbook with me.

Its not that I didn't love my mother, she just didn't understand that it wasn't possible for me to become a carbon copy of Adelaide. she's always telling me what a pretty ballerina I'll be or how gorgeous I'll look on my wedding day, but that's not what I want to do with my life and soon enough she's going to have to accept it. I feel sorry for her sometimes that her life isn't quite the way she wants it, but hey that's life y'know? My father was always the go too for things that I didn't want to tell her about. He was a good dad that way, in that he listened carefully and tried his best to remember details. Even if he ended up forgetting them anyways. And then there's my sister Adelaide. She's the first born and star of any performance she does. She's great at almost everything, except math, which is understandable as she spent most of her elementary days practicing ballet and learning how to be the perfect wife.

Even though I love my family, there really hard to be around most of the time due to their old fashioned way of thinking. I prefer to accompany myself with an empty beach and my busy thoughts, where I can take down my hair and be whatever I want. I could be Audroka Piin: the marine hero, whose fierce green eyes strike fear into all enemies eyes. Or I could be an artist whose pale skin and dazzling smile captures the heart of a young princess who sails the sea looking for her to tell that she loves her with all of her heart. Being them makes me feel confident and proud that my name is Audroka Piin.

The road back is smooth and paved, just perfect for bike ride, I think as I walk. Almost a block away from home, there's a big tree that sits just north of the community church, and there's men fighting in the bar as the night grows darker. They remind me of a flock of seagulls fighting over a meal. I turn the corner for the road back home when an old woman stops me. Her hair is gray with few strands of what looks to be orange hair, and her eyes are cold and sad. She looks homeless, i think. "Little girl, come here and see my wares" she croaked. Her voice sounded like she had gravel stuck down her throat. "I have many a trinket that will interest you, for instance, a silk umbrella or this beautiful silver necklace?" After years of eating off of porcelain and using crystal glasses I've learned to identify what's real and what's not. I utter a quick "no thanks" and walk away, before she calls back to me. "Wait! you want to be better than your sister don't you? You want your mother to stop comparing you to her don't you?" I freeze and turn around to look at her cautiously. How did she know I had a sister? How did she know me at all? "You're little Audroka Piin, I see your mother, sister and you strolling about on the afternoon sometimes. I have something that will give you an edge on your sister, something that could make you truly amazing!" I couldn't help but let my imagination wander to what it might be? I knew that I shouldn't have said yes to her begging, as my father said that people like her were dangerous, and should not be trusted. But when she told me she could help me, I knew that I had to at least see what she had been talking about.

She had given me an exotic fruit, which was almost completely covered in rectangles and straight lines grooved into the flesh of the fruit. It was a light, cloudy blue in some parts, and yellow in others. It was so intricate. It was as if I were trapped in a maze whenever I took look at it. In return she asked for a favor, but didn't specify when she wanted it, or what she wanted done. So I accepted and ran home with the fruit, not quite sure what to do with it. When I got home I hid it in my closet, where it would stay, until I decidde what to do with it. I crawled into my lavender coloured bed, and fell into a light slumber.

The next morning I awoke to the sound of chiming bells, signaling it was time to get ready. All I remember was brushing my teeth and getting ready for school when I started talking to my sister. I'm not sure what it started with, but our small chat soon turned into a vicious, verbal fight. "You're the _worst_ sister in the whole world! You think you're better than everyone, but you're not! You're just a stupid, ugly, horrible person and I **hate** you! I hate all of you!" I ran back to my room slamming the door, to vent out my anger even just a bit. That was it, I didn't care what happened. I was going to be better than my sister no matter what.

I opened the closet and stuffed my face with the foul tasting fruit, until I had eaten the whole thing. Soon enough my head started to ache. Had that old woman given me poison? I looked around at things, and when I did, numbers, colors and sounds came rushing at me all at once. I saw bolts being undone from my music box, it was all floating apart from itself, as if to show me how it was put together. As I ran to put it back together, what I grabbed was an untouched music box that looked perfectly normal. Had i imagined it? Equations and numbers flew threw my head, all at once. I felt like my head was going to explode, and yet all I could focus on was my practice book my father had given me to practice my math work. I ran over, flipped open the book, and started writing. Everything started to slow down and my head felt more like a cloud. What had I eaten? Why did I eat that horrible fruit? 'Oh..' I thought as I fully took in what had happened. I ate it because I hated my sister. Because I was foolish and desperate.

I felt tears slide down my face, as it hit like bricks that I had done such a stupid thing. Adelaide wasn't stupid. she wasn't ugly and horrible….I was.

The next few years went by painfully slow. My sister got married and left, I wasn't invited. And my father and mother were too tired to try and fix me up anymore. It turned out I ate what was called a devil fruit. A mysterious fruit which had been one of many mysterious fruits scattered around the world. I ate the Kei Kei No Mi, also known as the system system fruit. This devil fruit would allow the user to understand and change the working systems of almost anything. I could solve equations in seconds and stop guns from firing with the wave of my hand. It was everything I wanted. Parents who let me be myself, no sister, and to be strong and powerful. And yet I wasn't happy at all. I was lonely, I wanted someone to be here with me. But after the incident with my sister, no one bothered to even look at me. I had screwed up, but then again we all screwed up.

The old lady had sent me a letter yesterday. She did that frequently. Her letters were always random and odd. Today she wrote something different. Something that was going to change my life whether I want it to or not.

_Dear Audroka,_

_port 51_

I had no idea what she meant, but I decided to go, as there was nothing else to do. As I walked away from the fifth docking area I had checked, I realized that this wasn't the best idea. When I had finally got to Port 51, I was more than slightly annoyed that I had come all the way out here to see a man buy a submarine, but I didn't really have anything else today, so I stayed and watched.

After sorting everything out with the salesman, he called someone with his den den mushi. He was tall and scraggly. He had a pale complexion and dark eyes that laid just above his dark circles. He looked like the guy at your school who ate behind the building and sold drugs. I imagined him smoking after having a drink. He looked tired and confused when he looked my way ever so slightly. It was only when his eyes met mine, did I realize how creepy I must look, staring at him for all this time. I averted my eyes slowly as he seemed to stare into my soul, but the poor guy looked too tired to care, and went back to talking on the den den. Soon enough he hung up and sauntered his body over to the bench I had been sitting on. I moved over to make room for him, and he slinked down onto the bench before putting his hat over his eyes, and falling into a light nap. Up close his features were much sharper. he had tattoos on his hands and arms, which made me wonder how far the tattoo went, under his tight fitting hoodie. I wonder how much it hurts to get a tattoo like that? oh well. I pick my book up and flip to my last page, but I stop when I see something that just can't be real. There are two men walking around with a polar bear, and on closer inspection…..its talking?! My book drops to the ground as I wordlessly watch the strange group walk towards us.

"Law! oi Law!" one of the men calls out as he waves his hands in the air, his face slightly hidden by the hat bearing the words "penguin" on top of his head. He reminds me of a child on Christmas morning, and the others are just as excited. I turn my head to look for the person, but the only one near me was the tired guy. So I bent over to check if he was awake or not. He didn't seem to be conscious, so I poked his shoulder. "Hey...your friends are calling to you" He lifted up his hat as he looked at me. He looked behind me for a second. "Ah…..thanks." His voice was deep, and dry. He got up, and lazily waved to his friends as they ran over. The polar bear ran with them, and scared the living shit out of me. He stood on his hind legs and walked like a man. He was taller than my father, and yet he actually looked kinda of cute. Not in the way that my sister would call boys, but like child-cute y'know? Anyway, his fur was a pure white and he wore an orange jumpsuit. His voice was childish like his appearance. I kind of wish I could pet his fur to see if it was as soft as it seemed. They all looked like such interesting people, and for the millionth time in my life

I wished I could be friends with them...

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i hope you liked it. please review and tell me how i did ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ


	2. crap coffee

summer break is here! yay!

I hope you guys enjoy it!

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The man named Law and his friends didn't have a clue what they were doing with the submarine. I had seen them all go in and out of the sub to check the manual six times already, and its only been ten minutes. I heard some yelling, and after about two minutes, Law climbed out soaking wet and pissed. He walked like a wet cat, holding his arms out and walking stiffly. I attempted to stifle my laughter, but it seemed he heard me as he turned his head at breaking speed and just glared at me. " Do _you _ know how to work a submarine?" he hissed. I contemplated whether or not I should say something, but my brain betrayed me almost instantly. "Yes actually…." his eyes widened for a split second, before we both awkwardly looked at the floor. "Soooooo…." he kicked the dirt with his wet shoes, "do you need help?"

After a couple of hours, I had not only helped them get the big machine working, but had also showed them the safety procedures, and the equipment use I had read about. Afterwards, they invited me for coffee, and amazingly, I said yes. We walked down a couple blocks to a cafe named "Le Chaude's", that served a bunch of stale food and bad coffee, that tasted like salty crap with a pinch of dust mixed in. We sat down in what I had judged to be one of _the _dirtiest tables I had ever seen, but then I started to realize that the table most likely wasn't as dirty as my pristine upbringing had made me to believe it was, so I wiped the sour look off my face. "What would you like miss…..uhh?" The one who I had deemed Penguin, started to say before Law rudely interrupted him. "My name is Trafalgar Law and these are my crewmates, Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo. Interesting to meet your acquaintance." he said smoothly as we shook hands. his hands felt cold, and the handshake felt very forced. He didn't seem like the kind of person who enjoyed unnecessary conversation. "Audroka piin. So you guys are marine biologists or something?" Shachi waited a minute to see if I was done talking before answering. "Actually we're pirates, Law is the captain and Bepo is our first mate." He looked completely casual as he told me, but I was nervous as hell.

I had heard some bad things about pirates, well more like read but more to the point, pirates weren't adventures seeking fairytales like children liked to believe, they were killers who took what they wanted and ransacked villages. Looking at the odd group of them I would never had guessed they were pirates at all. My nervousness wavered a bit when I remember that the group consisted of a talking polar bear, two bumbling idiots, and the drug dealer who hadn't slept in years. but I wasn't about to let my guard down. Trafalgar seemed to notice my uneasiness and smirked "don't worry we won't kill you. however would you be at all interested in becoming our engineer? from what I've seen, you know your way around a sub, and you're quite good at it too." His buddies almost jumped in excitement at his question, and loudly whispered to each other giddily. I was shocked to say the least. I hadn't choked on my drink or anything cliche like that but I did look away at the waitress, as if to see if she had heard it as well. but she hadn't even been part of the conversation, so it looked ridiculous.

I looked back at him and muttered back awkwardly. "um, I'm...sorry, but shouldn't someone get to know someone better before they ask them to join a pirate crew?" But he shook his head with a sigh, before calling over the waitress for the small bill. I watched as they walked out, and in a split second, the letter which the old lady ran straight through my head, _and i knew._

"wait!"

I jumped from my chair, knocking it over in the process. I didn't care though, because after eight years of not knowing when or how my debt would be repaid, I finally had an answer. The woman had sent me letter, after letter, talking about her day, or asking me how my life was. And now. _Right now. _They all suddenly crashed together, to become that one last, scribbled letter. She knew that Trafalgar would be here, and she most certainly knew that I would end up helping the guy and his crew of misfit pirates. So I ran after them for what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been a couple minutes, down a dry, dirt path, as my lungs seemed to explode from yelling and heavy breathing. The men turned around to face me, as I bent over to catch my breath. I stood up fast, paying no attention to the blood rushing to my head, all that mattered was there right then. "I want to join your crew!" I shouted frantically trying to get my lungs to inhale and exhale air normally, before falling flat on my bottom. He looked at me in that moment, and I saw his dark eyes. They were smiling even if only a little, and his features looked softer than before. Penguin, Shachi and Bepo all faced back towards me, all smiling bright smiles, and I begin to feel my lips twitch to a smile too. He held his hand out

And I held on tight

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phew! sorry this chapter is so short..

im still not used to writing again so there were some problems coming up with plot and such. honestly, i'll try to write longer chapters in the future since its finally summer break, but im usually very tired or ill so i might have some struggle periods in the future.

love ya guys (Ɔ ˘⌣˘) (˘⌣˘ C)


	3. career choices and lacy lingerie

chapter 3

ready and go!

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The morning after leaving the island had been quite an adventure, just by itself. After getting settled in with everyone, packing the supplies, and _leaving, _I somberly realized that I had completely forgotten to tell anyone that I was leaving. I also realized how proud my family was going to be when they learned of my new acclaimed life of piracy. There goes our daughter, the criminal…...

We returned quickly for me to pack some things, and say goodbye to my family. The walk back was purposely slow. Shachi tried to help me figure out how to tell them I was leaving, and asked me if I wanted them to come in with me. I'm still not sure if I want them to, or not. I learnt quickly that out of the four guys, he was the most considerate. I've decided that he'll be my go-to for help on personal matters.

When we get to my house, after what seemed like seconds, the three musketeers have an awed expression, while Trafalgar seems rather unfazed by it all. He probably lived near or in a similar area of wealth, I think to myself. Unfortunately enough, when we enter, I found my sister, her husband, and our parents all sitting comfortably around the living room. The look my family gives me as I enter with three and a half men at my side Is something you'd see in those funny little comics in the newspaper, and instantly wish I was anywhere _but_ here. my sister screams and hides behind her paper-thin husband, who is as scared as she is. Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo look around frightened, not realizing that what she's terrified of is Bepo himself. "this is why I don't bring friends over!" I yell as I watch everyone freak out.

After Trafalgar screamed at everyone to shut up, we finally all sat down together and spoke with each other. "A-Audroka….dear….who are your friends?" my dad says shakily. I watch as my mother internally screams. "well, um...this is my captain.." I motion towards Trafalgar, who raised his hand and does a sloppy salute, while trying to determine the price of the silverware hung on the walls. They all look at me puzzled, and I'm once again reminded that I need to work on my social skills. "I'm a pirate now…so yeaaaa" I mumbled to everyone, and I swear to god you could hear a fucking hair strand drop. After my parents stopped metaphorically choking on their tongues, there was a LOUD collection of "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" sided with " what did we do wrong.." quietly chiming in the background.

I knew that I shouldn't have thought it was going to be any different, but I felt like absolute crap. Its funny how parents would always tell you not to let anyone treat you horribly, but degrade you, and then wonder why you don't want to have tea with them later that day. I felt tears sting my eyes, which made me feel like an over sensitive idiot for crying over something so seemingly small. from the corner of my eye, I saw Trafalgar and the others go to defend me, when I heard something _completely_ unexpected.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!"

I never thought my sister would be caught _dead_ raising her voice, let alone to our own _mother_. but there she stood, breathless, red, with her hands tight in a fist. "Whats wrong with her?! what wrong with _you_" she huffed before grabbing my hands and running me outside to the gardens. Her hands were warm, and they held onto my hand tightly but with care, like holding a crystal glass. Despite hearing and seeing what had just happened with my own eyes, I still couldn't believe that she had done that for me. It reminded me of when we were small, and when she would ditch her friends when they wouldn't let me join in on they're games. she would dress me up and teach me her ballet steps or have me participate in her tea parties. she was a good big sister, even if I didn't realize it then. she always tried to get me to play different things, or include me in her activities, even when I hated doing them. she just kept trying.

"Hey…..I know we haven't gotten along for the past few years, but…" she spoke hesitantly, as if she was unsure if her voice would even come out. we both stood there quietly, waiting for one or the other to say something. I think we both saw just how much we didn't know each other anymore. we were just so...different from what we used to be.

The tears that sat in my eyes before had started rolling down my face, and I pulled off my glasses before they could get wet. I started wiping my face with my sleeve. "I'm sorry…." I croak while looking down at my feet, I swayed a bit. Her face became red and It sounded like she was crying too, but I couldn't quite tell without my glasses on. "...I'm sorry too" she wept as she pulled me into a heartfelt hug. It felt good to get a hug, and I think we both needed it. "

Don't listen to them alright? they're just worried. And besides..[sniff] ...who doesn't want to be _pirate_?" we both laughed. This felt good, laughing with her and acting like sisters instead of...well, whatever we were before. It turned out that we actually had been secretly admiring each other, and that we had both been in VERY similar situations. She DID invite me to her wedding, but to our shock, the letter got lost in the mail.

We went to head back only to find Trafalgar and the boys waiting closer by than we had thought. Trafalgar was leaned against one of the support beams for the gazebo, Shachi was standing with his hand in his pockets with a knowing smile, and the other two were looking to each other happily. Adelaide walked over to our captain, headstrong, and calmly. "listen you…..she's allergic to shellfish, peanuts, and she can't drink too much dairy or else she gets a stomach. She has a strict schedule for morning activities, but she has a hard time getting to bed on time if she's working on one of her projects, so don't disrupt her morning but make sure she gets to bed by at least 11 PM. Also, make sure she sends letters home at least once a month, and if you get her hurt, I swear to god, there will be nothing left of you but your bad sense of fashion and some goatee hairs. do I make myself clear?" she spoke a mile a minute, but her words were as sharp and pointy as our aunt's breasts. Saying that the crew was scared was an understatement. Trafalgar looked like he was going to piss himself then and there, and I suppose now was a good time to mention that my sister is a good ten inches shorter than him. It was like watching a barbie doll take down an elephant in pro wrestling. " yes ma'am" he said quickly with a stern nod of the head. she glanced over to the others with a bitter-sweet smile, making them flinch before doing a deep bow.

I couldn't help but laugh at my sisters sudden protectiveness. During the short time afterwards, Adelaide got to know everyone, and unsurprisingly, wished us good luck on our journey. We gathered my things and left. Penguin seemed a little too when he helped me pack my clothes. I think he was expecting to find a pair of lacy lingerie. Unfortunately for him, I prefer boxer shorts. Picking our beds in the sub was probably the hardest part of the day. We ALL wanted the bed closest to the bathroom, so I came up with a rotation plan. We would switch beds every night until the crew expanded. I didn't mind sharing a room with two and a half men, but I quickly learnt that each and everyone of them had a specific bathroom setup, so moving anything in the bathroom was a no go. The list of things you couldn't do in our thirty man bedroom increased every second you lived there. Honestly, I almost decided to live the rest of my life sleeping in the kitchen cabinet. I mean sure, I enjoyed a systematic lifestyle, it kinda just happened when I ate the devil fruit, but this was insane.

I have _got_ to get my own room….

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Its too hooooot ~~~~ its making me really tired ._.

i would appreciate it if you left a review (つω⊂* )


	4. the pirates with kind hearts

CHAPTER 4 IS A GO!

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It had been a few weeks since we had left, and believe or not, we weren't official pirates yet. We had no flag, no name, and a crew of five people. Trafalgar says he's just getting a feel to the sub before we start everything, but we all know that's a load of bull crap. I know it, he knows it, and everyone on the submarine knows it.

I'm a light sleeper, so I happen to wake up a lot during the night. There was some shuffling and what sounded like some plastic bottles being rattled next to each other. It smelt like rubbing alcohol, which was proved to be true when I turned over to see Penguin getting his knee bandaged by Trafalgar. He had injured it earlier, when he was running before dinner. He had tripped on one of our bags, and got a gash on his knee from falling against one of the metal shelves. Bepo, Shachi, and I discovered it only when he had gotten up and limped to the fridge. Shachi was up and helping him in seconds flat. Like usual. He told us that he would deal with the wound the next day, and that we didn't need to fuss over him. His comment made me start to believe that he might've been embarrassed for being a clumsy person. From the looks of it, Bepo had panicked and told Trafalgar, despite the clumsy man's reassurance that he would deal with it in the morning.

Penguin sat at the edge of his bed looking tired and embarrassed. Trafalgar sat on his own chair, holding Penguin's leg straight across his lap, stitching the wound shut. The way he stopped to ask Penguin how his leg felt was striking. Perhaps our captain was a softer person than I had first thought. It suddenly occurred to me that I knew next to nothing about my crew members. I began to grow curious about their family, and lives. One thing was certain now though. All four of them had kind hearts, _even_our icy captain Trafalgar.

"Engineer-_ya_, its quite late. I would recommend you catch some sleep before the sun rises." I had been caught. I'm not sure why I panicked, because I wasn't guilty of anything, but I did. After settling my heart down, I got up to get a closer look at his stitch work. I mean now that he knew I was awake, there was no point in just staring from my bed. "I'm not going to sleep anyway soo…" he raised an eyebrow with a smirk. "Oh? what were you planning on doing instead of sleeping then?" Penguin blushed and started washing off the now closed wound with the rubbing alcohol. "Ha ha ha Mr. joker." My sarcasm seemed to strike a chord with the two men. All the warmth from our little conversation melted away _instantly_. I looked between the two, trying to figure out why they were both so wary around the sentence. The silence that washed over the submarine was only broken by Penguin's awkward goodnight, before he crawled under the sheets and turned his lamp off. Trafalgar then started to pack up his things, when I felt the need to apologize for whatever had offended the two. "Hey….I don't know what I said. But I'm sor-" "its fine." He had left the room and closed the door behind him…. I felt like a boob….

The next morning, none of us talked about what conspired that night. All was seemingly well. "Everyone!, today we will decide on the name that our crew will be known as from here on out." Trafalgar put his cup of tea down. In one instant, everyone at the table, excluding me and him, started screaming different names. The one name that I did hear was something along the lines of "THE YELLOW SUBMARINE FOXY SQUAD ." I couldn't figure out who had said it, but all of them were currently strong candidates for it. Trafalgar told them all to settle down and talk in a clockwise direction. The idea's were...unique

BEPO - the polka-dot pirates

PENGUIN - the aquatic oceanographers

SHACHI - the deadly corpse burning pirates

We decided that Shachi's name was too depressing, so we cut his idea out. Trafalgar looked _really_ unimpressed with the ideas. "You got anything?" Everyone turned to me at his words. Naming stuff was not my area. I looked around the kitchen looking for stuff, that if I tried hard enough, I could turn it into a bad pirate crew name. It struck me.

"What about the heart pirates?"

They looked at me skeptically. "You all have kind hearts… Shachi likes to help people with their personal problems, Bepo is always making sure everyone is okay, Penguin is always thinking of ways to get to know each other more, and Trafalgar….you may not show it easily, but you're even more concerned about all of us than Bepo. You go out of your way to take care of us, even when we don't notice it. You all have kind hearts...so….Heart pirates" I felt….more confident than I had when I first joined. Could it have been because of solving the family social problems? Maybe that was why I didn't mind talking so much this time. Or maybe, it was because I had found such good people to talk to. Either way, I had the sudden urge to impress them and make them proud of me. I don't think I've felt that way in quite a long time...

I looked up to see them all staring awestruck, even Trafalgar. "Heart...pirates" Penguin sounded out. to my relief they all broke out in a smile. Trafalgar looked down for a second with a moment of silence. Biting his bottom lip, he looked up and announced his final decision. "...Its official then. We will known from this moment forward, as the Heart Pirates. " the boys broke out in a cheer, and I actually found myself cheering a too.

We had celebrated by pulling out some sake and rice cakes. We played some music, and Bepo showed us some of his dance moves. Shachi showed us a game called twister, and amazingly, Trafalgar played it with us. I felt a surge of delight throughout the rest of the day not only because my idea had been chosen. But also because I had experienced my very _first _party_,_and It was _amazing. _The rest of the day went by fast. soon enough, I found myself wandering to the sleeping quarters. My feet felt like sandbags, dragging themselves down the hall. my eyelids felt heavy, and I knew I wasn't going to have any trouble sleeping tonight. I felt a cold hand grab my shoulder, and was turned around meet a Hat-less Trafalgar. His hat hair sticking out in every direction. He sized me up and stared at me for a moment, before averting his eyes and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Listen...I'm..not really a good judge for who has a "kind" heart or not, but….you're a good person.." He sounded kinda strained and awkward. "thank you... captain" I smiled up at him, and I'm not quite sure but I think he smiled back. You can never quite tell with him. He nodded before jogging back into the main room where the others were no doubt playing one of Penguin's games. I dressed myself for sleep and stole the bathroom bed before dozing off. Today was the first time I had actually directly called him captain.

but it was also the first day I felt like his engineer

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this chapter was quite fun to write, as i enjoy exploring with the friendly trio's personality. we don't see much of them so its great to create some traits based on what I've seen so far. i started writing this last night at about 8:00 and then finished at 5:01 AM and when i finally went to bed, i must've slept funny, because i couldn't move when i woke up...my back hurts so much...

anyway! i hope you guys enjoyed it,. if you have any suggestions or comments on the story (or whatever) please leave a review!

love ya guys~


	5. how far the tattoo falls

The sound of clicking heels and staple guns filled the air. Posters had been hung every two steps or so. We had been hanging them all day in an attempt to find more recruits. I watched as Bepo put up the fiftieth poster, when suddenly a breeze swept all of the posters into the air. While the boys ran all over the place trying to catch them all, I stood and embrace the rare cool breeze. Today had got to be one of hottest days of the year, and I felt like I was swimming in a pool of disgusting sweat. As soon as we stepped onto the island we stepped right back into the sub to find some weather appropriate clothes. we all decided upon wearing tank tops and shorts, excluding Bepo and our lazy captain who went shirtless. It was on this "momentous" day, that I got to learn just how many tattoos he actually had.

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"ne… does anyone have any spare shorts?" Shachi was shuffling through the bin under his bed, looking for something that might keep the lower portion of his body even marginally cool. The others searched through their bins carelessly. They all replied with "no" which seemed to have frustrated him. It struck me. _I_ had a second pair of shorts. But…

"Umm…"

Shachi turned to face me with a pleading look on his face. Was the man really desperate enough? Better yet, would they even fit? I sighed in resignation. I reached down under my bed and pulled out a pair of what my sister called _booty shorts_. They were given to me as a joke by some girls at school, but had never been worn. Hell I wouldn't wear them if they brought me flowers and chocolate. I brought them over as we all huddled up to take a look. We stared at it with hesitance, when Shachi finally took it in his hands. "...Do you think it'll fit?.."

We shooed Shachi into the bathroom to try the shorts on. After a couple of minutes, Shachi came out of the bathroom with a proud expression and a pair of jean shorts that fit him _very_ snuggly. Surprisingly, The work shirt and booty shorts look quite good on him. I walked over to him with an amused air. "How do you feel?" Bepo asked humouredly while admiring the outfit. "Powerful and _sexy_" We all left out a full hearted laugh. "Nice shorts." I turned around to see our captain brushing his teeth noncommittally in the doorway. ...Should I salute? Or bow? I don't know what to do anymore. He had three small pouches in his other hand, and was handing them out to the others. "This is your allowance. Buy necessities first, then you can buy what you want with whatever's left over. Alright?" The boys all nodded and started writing down some lists. I should probably start a list as well.

What should I buy? I mean I guess I should buy some womens products because I don't think my friendship with the boys has gotten to the point where I can ask them for that. I'd never had to go shopping for this kind of thing before, so I decided to just buy whatever Penguin got. All of a sudden I heard some scuffling and shouting. Bepo and Shachi were no doubt mucking about. I turned around and was met with a rather shocking sight. Trafalgar Law, captain and doctor of the heart pirates was _very_ much naked on the ground, wrestling Penguin over his spotted hat. The bath towel from earlier laid strewed on the ground. I now know how far his tattoos go and I never wanted to see them again. The only large empty spot on his upper half, was on his pale back. They both froze on spot and looked up at me comically. And all the blood from captain's body went straight to his face. And all I could do was blankly stare.

"doN'T LOOK!"

"OH IM SORRY"

I realized how awkward I looked and put a pillow on my face. "What are you! Some kinda pervert?!" His voice was dripping with mortification. The sound of shifting cloth was heard and soon enough I was turned around to see the now fully dressed man. I put the pillow down. "Its not my fault you guys were turkish oil wrestling on the floor y'know." He huffed and it seemed that I had made a point with him. Today was a "momentous" day.

* * *

It wasn't the best way to start the day, but it wasn't the worst either. The boys and I finally gathered all of the fallen papers. my body kept telling me to quite, but the job given to me by the captain far outweighed it, no matter how boring it was. I was expecting my first official job to be serious work. Not carrying water bottles and keeping Bepo cool while he puts the posters up. Out of all of us, Bepo had the most trouble in the dry heated weather. He was almost Forced to go do face-to-face recruiting with Penguin in the tavern, but he insisted that he could cope with the weather. Captain Trafalgar assigned us our jobs and left. He did say where he was going, and didn't look to be in a hurry. he's probably just being lazy. As the sun started to set, We decided to call it a day.

I couldn't help but wonder how Penguin was doing in the tavern. He was chosen for face to face primarily because he was the only one who wouldn't

A) panic

B) cause panic

C) piss people off

D) get pissed off

If you hadn't guessed, I was A. I could think up plans in a split second as long as their not social plans. Bepo is a polar bear, and Trafalgar was...well….Trafalgar was Trafalgar. Soon enough we returned to the ship, where captain Trafalgar was placing box upon box on every flat surface he could find. His wiry hands opened one box with little difficulty, and pulled out what looked to be jumpsuits. It seemed he had noticed us. "These are the uniforms you all will be wearing from now on. Sadly, I forgot to order a small suit. So you're going to have to wear this big one and roll up the sleeves Audroka. Alright?" He carried over some uniforms, one of which was a large bright orange suit. Most likely for Bepo I thought to myself. When compared to Bepo's uniform, the other uniforms were very bland and boring. They were a light beige and had little ringlets for belts on them. It had our jolly roger, which captain Trafalgar had revealed to us not to long ago. It was in the form of a smiley and was surrounded by T-like symbols on the outside. It was interesting. And while I wasn't sure what it stood for, It was my pride now. I had taken it upon myself to research pirate culture, and the language and such. It would definitely come in handy in the future. So far I'm still a bit rusty on the sailing terms, but the captain corrects me on occasion. "Audroka. Take a uniform over to Penguin and help him close up." I nodded before grabbing a suit and heading out.

The walk to the tavern had been quiet and peaceful. It reminded me of the walk from the beach to my house when I was younger. The bar was noisy and crowded like any other. The minute I stepped in, my nostrils were filled with the smell of tobacco and booze. I was kind of scared, but i brushed the feeling away. You see, despite being twenty two years old. I'd never actually had the urge to drink, there for I'd never stepped foot in a bar. Even if I did want to drink, My father would rather die than let me drink in a public bar. He once said that if i ever wanted to smoke a cigar that I ask him so I wouldn't get the bad crap. Mind you, I was thirteen so my mother had a fit. She always had wine with dinner, but my sister refrained to a glass a year. She read that it helped the heart health.

My thoughts were interrupted by a rough shove from a rather tall man. I suddenly took notice of my surroundings once more. There was ragtime playing on the piano, and the large room was filled with tall men and short. At this rate I was going to be trampled. Getting to the other side of the floor was a lot harder than it should have been. "AUDROKA! come and meet the new crew members! they're pretty cool" Penguin caught me before I was shoved back into the sea of mustaches and drunks. He guided me over to the signup table which had been surrounded by men cheerfully laughing and chatting. They soon cleared a path for Penguin and I. They nodded and continued with their conversations. One man in particular looked at me with a pitiful look. "Leaving your wife behind huh? Must be hard. Thats why I haven't gone domestic." The other men nodded and laughed along. Me? a house wife? What do I say? If i didn't say something then he might be weirded out or shocked when he joins the crew. The men started chatting and laughing about what "misfortune" I had. I decided upon telling them because I was starting to feel kind of boxed in. But what do I say…

"I AM THEY'RE SMART"

That was not even fucking close to what I meant to say. Oh god. Fucking fix it. The whole bar had gone quiet from my sudden outburst. No piano and no chatter, and i'm pretty sure I heard a glass shatter from my velociraptor-like screech. I tried to speak or utter a word but nothing seemed to come out, so my mouth hung open stupidly. my gazed drop slowly to the floor as the bar stood still with a pregnant silence. This would be one of those moments that I suddenly had the desire to be knocked out and never wake up. I felt a familiar cold hand on my shoulder. "I don't think thats what they meant by making lasting impression." After my captains small comment I made my leave and flew from that bar like a bird.

When I was younger, my mother and father didn't like the people that I liked. If I wanted to talk to another child, I was to pick from the list my parents gave me. I was told quite often, how they didn't want me to end up in the "wrong crowd." Being the six year old I was, the worst crowd I could have gone with was the group of kids who stole crayons. So quite expectedly, I never had many friends. And because I had almost no friends, my social tact while growing up decreased immensely. So here I lay. My eyes baring holes into the wall. My bed felt uncomfortable, and the blankets did nothing to stop the recurring chills. I felt a physical pain from just thinking about my outburst, and I couldn't stop worrying over the stupidest things. I was completely _mortified._

What did my captain and crew mates think of me now? What if captain Trafalgar fires me?it was almost completely improbable that he would fire me for that, and its most likely just my nerves talking. but still…. I heard footsteps walk down the hall. I wrapped myself in the blanket before they came inside. The footsteps stopped as the door closed. One of them walked around the side of my bed, only to crouch down. I felt my glasses slide of my face, and tried not to move.

They thought I was asleep. Good, I thought. I hate confrontation. "She looked pretty upset when she ran off." I identified the voice as Penguin, who seemed to be standing with the others. The room turned back to its former silent state, before captain Trafalgar made himself known. He sighed. "All of you. Go help the men up top." I could only assume that the one who had removed my glasses was Shachi. Our captain was standing with Penguin, and the hands had'nt felt furry, so the only plausible person was Shachi. He, along with Penguin and Bepo, left the room and went back up the stairs.

"I know you're awake. And for someone so quiet, you're really not good at pretending to sleep." I slowly opened my eyes, before rolling over. "and for a doctor, you have really bad posture" My voice came out as a mutter. I wondered if he had actually heard me, but his eye roll made any doubts vanish. My tired looking captain looked at me neutrally. He walked over to the neighbouring bed, and sat himself down. I sat myself up, waiting for the incoming conversation. He had a small glass of what looked to be water. His spotted, white hat laid at his side. he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry about my outburst…" I wanted to look anywhere _but_ his gaze. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't hurt anyone." Besides Penguin's eardrums, I thought guiltily. "Well, I mean...I made myself look like an idiot. Before, that wouldn't have done anything but hurt my parents pride..But now, I'm your engineer. And that means that my actions can leave consequences for me _and _the crew...so yeah." I couldn't afford stupid outbursts like that now. When you're a pirate, saying the wrong thing can get you killed. And I didn't like the idea of dying because of bad social skills.

"You're smart. I'm kinda surprised at your complete lack of social skill. But you're smart" His eyes shone thought in them. I suddenly felt the urge to be like him. He was smart, and cool, and could talk to people without thinking ahead. He could probably do one of those snappy comebacks too. I wanted to be like that. I may have stared too long because he got up and stuck his hat back on. He looked a bit agitated. I tried to think of something I might have said, or lack thereof. Was it my gloomy eyes? or perhaps my dead sta- _oh_

"Um. Were you...trying to comfort me?..captain.." He was soon walking out the door. I heard a rather loud sigh. _I'll take that as a yes._ "...Sorry." I croaked awkwardly. "Stop apologizing!"

* * *

so sorry for the long wait! i've been doing musicals and the such for while so the chapter took some time to finish. anyway. if you guys liked the story, feel free to leave a comment or follow the story. bye!


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